Waking Wounded
by M J Azilem
Summary: Tag to The Sound of Thunder the finale of Season 4 Complete. What happened after Murdock was shot and how they got out of Vietnam. Please don't review unless it's constructive, I'm sorry for any typos or gammer errors you find. was Pestered/eye of the stm
1. Chapter 1

In the episode The Sound of Thunder the finale of Season 4 Murdock was shot! How did the A Team get out of Vietnam? Did the plane even have any gas? My thoughts on what might have happened.

I don't own anything.

No Warnings No Slash

Eye of the Storm: Part 1

Murdock tried hard to give the impression that he had it all together.

He didn't. He was bleeding.

He had to bite the inside of his cheek hard to keep his eyes from crossing. He hated getting shot and what was it about his left shoulder that was so attractive to bullets. His shoulder was screaming as he griped the helicopter controls fighting with them to stay on course. He knew that Face was sitting to his left with wide eyes and white knuckles.

"We're close now." Murdock tilted his head in Face's direction his voice thin and tense.

Face said a prayer and held on tight. The helicopter was dropping out of the sky faster than he thought it should be. He kept his eyes on the pilot. Murdock had the controls in a death grip. His expression was the polar opposite to the happy carefree one he usually wore when flying. He was focused and determined beads of sweat formed on his brow from exertion but Face noted he was not panicking which made Face feel slightly better.

The ground was coming fast. Murdock held the controls as tight as he could doing his best to slow their decent. The bird wasn't helping. 'It was probably damaged when it got shot too.' He thought frustrated. He didn't know if he was going to be able to fly the plane out of here and it scared him, thinking it might be his fault that they were stuck in Vietnam.

They hit the ground harder then he would have liked to, causing them to bounce up again. Murdock couldn't help but howl as the impact jarred his arm and shot pain threw his shoulder.

The chopper bounced once and then came to rest with a thud in the clearing where they had hid the plane.

Face opened one eye and then the other, wary of what catastrophe he might find. He was relieved to see they had landed safely and Murdock was even with a pained expression quickly and deftly flipping switches and pressing buttons to shut off the helicopter off.

Face snapped back into action when he heard Hannibal calling for him and Murdock to get a move on. The lieutenant jumped down out of the helicopter, Hannibal, B.A. and Tia were already getting into the plane.

B.A. looked mad. "Come on, let's go! I wanna get out of here!" To the other's surprise Face ran to the other side of the chopper.

Murdock had sat back in his seat with his eyes closed. All the color seemed to have drained out of his face. He looked like his hat and jacket were swallowing his thin frame. Face had anticipated that the pilot might need help, but he didn't expect what he saw. He didn't look good.

"You ok Murdock?" Face asked but he didn't get a response from the younger man.

"What's the hold up?" Hannibal called leaning out the plane door.

"Murdock's been shot." Face shouted back surprised the Colonel hadn't noticed.

"What!" Hannibal exclaimed "I thought it was a rough ride but I thought it was because of the chopper."

B.A. was suddenly behind Hannibal in the door way and they hurried to Face's side. Tia stood back nervous and overwhelmed. She looked around fearful that they might be ambushed at any moment.

Face put his hand on the pilot's unwounded shoulder and gently shook the pilot back to consciousness. "Come on Murdock."

Murdock opened his eyes "I'm going I'm going I'm going" He chanted under his breath as he started to get out of the chopper.

"Murdock I think you should stay put." Face started but it was too late. Murdock was already stepping out of the chopper. Luckily Face, Hannibal, and B.A. were there just as he did because his first step would have been a painful one if they hadn't been.

As one unsteady foot hit the ground the rest of him seemed to want to follow. Face caught him by his shoulder and stopped him from falling out of the Helicopter. Hannibal helped Face get Murdock back into the seat.

Murdock gave Face a very stern look, one that Face hadn't expected to see from the wobbly man.

"What are you doing?" the pilot asked quietly. The question was ignored as the team went to work checking the wounded man over.

"In the shoulder again, Captain?" Hannibal winced out of sympathy. He knew that shoulder wounds though not usually fatal if treated were painful and took a lot of therapy if not surgery to fix. He knew that Murdock had had a rough time after the last time he was shot trying to get back the full range of motion in his shoulder.

"How bad Hannibal?" B.A. asked looking over Hannibal's shoulder as he examined the wound.

"Still bleeding…It's a thru and thru. That's good the bullet's not still in him." Hannibal said seeing the exit hole in the back of Murdock's boomer jacket and the bullet hole in the seat where the pilot had been sitting. Hannibal knew of course that what was dangerous was the fabric that the bullet took in with it when it went thru Murdock's shoulder.

"We'll need to clean, disinfect it and stitch it up. There's a first aid kit on the general's plane, right?" Hannibal questioned.

"I'm sure there's something, but…" Face with a pained expression asked the question that everyone was thinking. "Hannibal how are we going to get out of here?"

B.A. grimaced remembering the last time Murdock had been shot. He'd gotten really sick, B.A. worried that that might happen again. If it did their options for Murdock and themselves would be slim.

Hannibal was quiet and looked at his men and then back to Murdock. He needed to know if Murdock could get them in the air or not. Time was a factor.

"Maybe we could find a boat out of here." B.A. said hopefully.

Face agreed. "I don't think he's going to be able to fly us Colonel."

"Well, all he'd have to do was get us up and then land when we got there" Hannibal thought optimistically. "We could probably keep it in the air. Let's get him in the plane and get him cleaned up. As long as infection doesn't set in it's only his shoulder that's hurt. We can do the arm work for him."

Murdock who'd been sitting there quiet and uncharacteristically serious as they examined him looked at them quizzically as they now tried to help him out of the plane.

"What are you doing?" He resisted their help pulling back and away from them holding on to his left arm to try and keep the pain from exploding in his wounded shoulder again.

"Come on crazy man you need to get out of the helicopter." B.A. didn't have time for any of Murdock's foolishness.

"No, what I think is that I need to get this bird back in the air." Murdock inexplicably turned back to the controls and started flipping switches and pushing buttons to the team's befuddlement.

"What?" Face looked at his friend. "Murdock, come on stop playing around, this is serious."

Murdock turned sharply back to the team."This is no joke lieutenant." His directness caught the other's off guard. "Look I've dropped you off now I need to go back for the others."

"What others, you crazy fool? Now come on you need to get patched up." B.A. couldn't stand it when the pilot acted like a crazy person.

"The others still back there in the still in the jungle....wounded. I can't just leave them there can I?" Murdock said with surprising desperation in his voice.

Hannibal sadly realized what was going on. He'd been worried something like this might happen. He spoke to the pilot evenly. "Captain you're wounded yourself you need to go get checked out be a medic. Let another pilot take the chopper back to pick up the men."

"Colonel there is no one else." Murdock's pleading eyes were heartbreaking. Hannibal felt the younger man was remembering every chopper that crashed in Nam, in that moment.

Face tried to bring his friend back to reality. "Murdock you're not thinking straight. You're hurt." he reiterated.

"Well I would have stuck a cork in this hole and been up in the air by now if you hadn't stopped me!" Murdock spat angrily. "There are men back there!"

B.A. stepped up to the pilot. "There are no men." He said gruffly as Face and Hannibal tried to not think about how they'd left Fulbright. "Now get out of the Helicopter before I take you out." Murdock glared at B.A. and then at the chopper's instruments they kept blurring every time he tried to check them.

"No" was all Murdock could manage to say he was still losing blood and was starting to feel light headed.

They all knew that during the War the pilot would do everything in his power to get all the soldiers out. He always pushed himself hard and this time, even though the men were only in his mind, was no exception.

Hannibal watched carefully and saw the moment that Murdock's will power waivered. "Now B.A." Hannibal gave the order and the large Sergeant was able to pull the skinny pilot's right arm around his shoulders and put his own arm around the injured man's waist and ease him out of the helicopter.

"no no no." Murdock weakly sputtered looking despondently back at the helicopter as B.A. led him quickly to the plane.

"Lay him down in the aisle." Hannibal ordered as Face went to the front and grabbed the first aid kit from the cockpit.

B.A. grabbed a couple pillows down from an over head storage compartment and put them under Murdock's head then went to stand guard outside the plane.

Face brought the large first aid kit back and set it down next to Murdock.

Hannibal helped Murdock take off his bomber jacket as Murdock winced, grimaced, and groaned. Placing the beloved jacket aside Hannibal took a large silver pair of scissors from Face. Leaning over Murdock with the scissors Murdock's eyes got big and fearful. "Is there no way to save it Colonel?"

Hannibal sympathetically explained. "It's beyond saving Captain the t-shirt has to go." It was odd Hannibal thought that the shirt should say 'All things come to an end' as he cut up the sleeve and carefully around the wounded shoulder.

Once the bloody shirt was peeled off and disposed of Hannibal had Murdock lay on his side so he could clean the shoulder. He first wiped off the blood that ran down Murdock's chest and back with a wet cloth. The water was cold and Murdock tensed at the first touch. "Relax Murdock." Face prompted, they all knew this was the easy part.

After washing his own hands and a long pair of tweezers in alcohol Hannibal began probing the wound for anything that could cause infection. Murdock sucked in a hitched breath and squeezed his watering eyes tight.

"Be strong Captain." Hannibal instructed. Once he was satisfied that there were no fragments of t shirt or jacket he poured alcohol over the entrance wound. Murdock breathed heavily as the alcohol burned.

"Did, did you check the the coordinates?" Murdock hissed thru clenched teeth.

"What coordinates Captain?" Hannibal asked as he poured alcohol over the exit wound.

"The the ones you g-gave the pilot you found to fly the helicopter back." Murdock breathed thru the pain.

Face hitched a confused eyebrow at Hannibal. The Colonel wasn't as confused he had always been good at following the pilot's random thoughts. "Yes we checked them, we just heard over the radio that the pickup was a success the helicopter is on its way back now." One corner of Murdock's mouth turned up into a lopsided smiled and Face thought his crazy friend looked relieved.

Hannibal was trying to keep pressure on the wound with gauze but they all knew the wound wasn't going to stop bleeding on its own. Face knew the look Hannibal was giving him and he pulled out the needle and thread. "We are really going to have to thank the General for keeping such a well stocked kit."

Face disposed of the gauze Hannibal had been using as the older man disinfected the needle and thread and his hands again.

Face looked down at his friend. Murdock looked extremely uncomfortable his head even with the pillows propping it up was at an odd angle as he lay on his side. "This will be over soon Murdock hang in there." Face knelt down to feel Murdock's forehead, he wasn't feverish in fact he was more cold and clammy than anything else.

Murdock was feeling woozy, his eyes wouldn't focus, and his eyelids got heavy. Half conscious he made a soft whimpering noise as Hannibal got started. He didn't stay conscious after a couple stitches, which Hannibal felt was a blessing. He didn't want cause his friend more pain, even if he was only trying to help.

After stitching both sides and pouring more alcohol over the wound, Hannibal wrapped and then taped the shoulder. Face wiped the sweat off of Murdock's forehead. Murdock stayed sleeping as Hannibal found some blankets. He and Face laid Murdock down on one blanket hoping it would cushion his shoulder better than the floor. They then covered Murdock with the other before they stepped out of the plane for some air.

B.A. stood outside with Tia, they turned when Hannibal and Face stepped out into the sun. "How is he?" B.A. asked.

"Good, sleeping…" Hannibal saw the look on B.A.'s face. "It's not like last time he's doing well."

"Except for the fact that he thinks it's 1969 and the War's still on." Face interjected.

"Like the other time he was shot in the shoulder…" B.A. recalled. They all remembered…

Murdock was flying pickup. There were lots of wounded soldiers, lots of enemy fire and helicopters were dropping out of the sky like wounded ducks. Murdock had always been the best pilot a guy could hope to get to fly him but that day Murdock proved it tenfold. He had picked up a unit and came under fire during takeoff. It had been a group of Vietnamese farmers with shotguns and stolen weapons. The helicopter windshield had been damaged by enemy fire during the previous run so when one of the farmer's shots was aimed just right it burst thru the glass. Murdock took the bullet in his shoulder plus the shards of the windshield sliced him and stuck in him all over. Still he got the chopper up and flew the bird back to base.

Hannibal and his team had been there that day helping get the wounded off the choppers. Hannibal remembered a scene much like the one he'd seen today. The young pilot was badly wounded but was determined to go back for more men. The medics argued with him to no avail. He said as long as his bird flew he was going back and amazingly he did twice more before Hannibal found him passed out bent over in the pilot's seat and he and B.A. had to carry him to the medical tent carefully, wary of the pieces of glass that were stuck in the young man.

"That crazy fool…" B.A. reminisced.

"Best damn pilot we had during the War." Face added.

"Just goes to remind you fellas you can't keep a good pilot on the ground." Hannibal mused. He was confident if they gave Murdock a little time he'd fly them out of the predicament they were in.

TBC….

Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**The Eye of the Storm** Part 2

"So here's the plan, we're going to let Murdock sleep for now." 'And hope that helps him get his head back on straight,' Hannibal thought to himself. "Two on guard two off guard two hour rotations." Hannibal explained as the sun started to go down. "Face see if the General's 'well stocked' plane has rations aboard. B.A. I'd like you to check the chopper and see if there's anything on it we can use; especially see if there's any fuel left. If so we're going to need it for the plane."

"Right Hannibal." B.A. agreed and he and Face took off on their perspective assignments. Tia stood with Hannibal in the quickly dimming light.

"How long will he be asleep?" She asked nervously of the wounded pilot.

Hannibal thought for a moment. He had seen injured men sleep for days. With time not turning in their favor this certainly wasn't an option. "We'll wake him up in the morning."

"Will he be able to fly us then?" Tia asked in her accented English.

"If not we'll have to go with plan B." Hannibal explained. He was still betting on the injured pilot.

"And what's plan B?" The young girl asked expectantly.

"I don't know yet." Hannibal said shortly before turning back into the plane to make sure Murdock's condition hadn't changed.

* * *

B.A. went to work sweeping the helicopter, he found some extra ammunition stashed away, but other than that there wasn't much inside.

He got to work siphoning the gas from the helicopter's tank. He couldn't believe he was standing on Vietnam ground again. Just like the first time he'd been to the jungle all he wanted to do was go home.

B.A. thought back to the day after he and Hannibal had carried the crazy pilot to the medical tent. That next day B.A. had gone to check on some of the soldiers in his unit that were there.

He made a point of stopping past the pilot's bed. He hadn't known Murdock at the time and was surprised at the young appearance of the pilot he found asleep in bed. He couldn't believe it was the same man that all the stories he had heard were about, but the name on the file hanging on the bed said H.M. Murdock.

The young man was the man the soldiers and even the other pilots around the base had come to call Howling Mad.

It wasn't long after that day that B.A. found out first hand why Murdock had the reputation he did. He had saved B.A. and the A Team more times than B.A. could count, with his daring and sometimes reckless tactics. B.A. liked Murdock even if he was crazy, he hoped Murdock would be alright and they would get back home soon.

* * *

Face found rations in the cargo hold of the plane. Apparently the General was prepared for any situation that might arise. Face brought them up and gave them to Hannibal who passed them out. "We really must send the general a thank you card."

"I know it." Face nodded thankful for the little luck they were having.

Murdock was sleeping soundly when they started their rotations. Hannibal instructed that every hour someone made sure to check on the pilot's temperature. If it rose Hannibal was to be woken so they could try and deter the fever. Hannibal remembered well how they almost lost Murdock last time he was shot to infection and fever. Hannibal wanted to avoid that fight at all costs; they were in no situation to have to go find antibiotics and penicillin.

It was 2:30 in the morning and Face and Hannibal had taken over for B.A. and Tia half an hour ago. The jungle was cold and still in the dark. Face thought that after ten years on the run he would have gotten use to being on his guard. His heart was pounding in his chest as he crouched at the ready and kept watched from one side of the plane. He knew that Hannibal was on guard watching from the other side, still Face felt exposed. It was probably had something to do with them being in Vietnam again.

Suddenly and without warning the door to the plane was opened. Face jumped at the movement ready for action. Surprised by what he saw he quickly lowered his weapon.

"Murdock?" He asked as the pilot stepped out into the moonlight with a blanket draped around his pale shirtless shoulders.

Murdock turned towards Face's voice in the darkness but didn't say anything. As Face moved closer he could see that Murdock's eyes appeared clear but the expression on his face wasn't.

"Hannibal." Face spoke low in the direction of the colonel's post as he made is way up to where Murdock stood. "Hey Murdock, you're looking better. Do you need anything?" Face asked quietly as Hannibal came around the plane.

"I need a shirt." Face nodded at the 'matter of fact' statement, Murdock looked down the outside of the plane.

"Where are we and why am I half naked on a General's plane?" Murdock asked to two men who stood in front of him, neither seemed familiar.

"Ah well…you don't remember?" Face looked nervously at Hannibal.

Hannibal looked at the wounded pilot and tried to gauge what was going on in his head. "You were shot Captain…" Hannibal began but Murdock interrupted him.

"Agent." Murdock corrected abruptly.

Hannibal looked at the younger man quizzically. "Agent…you've been wounded. We're in Vietnam on a mission."

Murdock's expression remained very serious, almost cold. Face didn't know how to take it. It wasn't like when Murdock pretended to be serious or worked to 'sound' normal. The expression sent a chill down his spine.

"What's this mission?" Serious Murdock asked calmly.

Hannibal answered with a decidedly military tone. "We have to get this plane out of the country."

Murdock looked for a moment like he might ask 'why' instead he simply nodded his head, as if he was accepting the 'mission'.

Murdock turned and went back into the plane, Hannibal and Face followed him. B.A. had woken up and stood in the aisle of the plane. He was confused when Murdock walked passed him and into the cockpit with only a glance, one that B.A. didn't recognize.

"What's up with the crazy fool? He alright?" The sergeant asked as the others followed the pilot.

Face could only shrug his shoulders at B.A.'s confused expression. "I don't think he thinks it's 69 anymore."

Face really didn't have a clue what was going on with Murdock either.

* * *

Murdock sat down in the pilot's seat and started flipping switches with his right arm cradling his left near his body. He wondered how he'd gotten wounded this time, he didn't remember being in Vietnam and he didn't remember working with the agents that were here.

"Murdock don't you think that you should rest some more, maybe at least till the sun comes up. Not that we don't want to get out of here, but are you ready to fly?" Hannibal asked. He was concerned about his friend's health and all of their safety.

"Firstly, they don't pay me to NOT to fly, obviously someone needs to get this bird off the ground so I'm going to do it." Murdock continued checking and had noted the blacked out gages and cryptic dials. This was obviously one of the CIA's planes and he knew his orders when it came to CIA planes 'in and out fast'.

"And Second, _AGENT_…" Murdock turned to the man and said the word harshly. "I don't know you and at the moment…" Murdock looked unsure of himself.

"I can't remember what our orders were but…" Murdock looked confidently and coldly at Hannibal again.

"I seriously doubt I gave you permission to use my name under these…"Murdock indicated the jungle and the plane. "Circumstances."

Hannibal was taken aback by the intensity and sincerity of the statement. He moved out of the cockpit, leaving 'Agent' Murdock alone and went back to where Face stood with the sergeant.

"What's going on Hannibal?" B.A. asked gruffly.

"Looks like '_**Agent'**_ Murdock is going to fly us out of here tonight." Hannibal answered while thinking the encounter over in his head. He was certain Murdock wasn't going to hesitate to take them up tonight.

"Can he? Should He?" Face asked thinking of their safety.

"Face I don't think we can decline. We are not dealing with our Murdock and I don't think he's going to let us stop him flying this plane." Hannibal explained to his men.

B.A. was starting to get the 'I don't wanna fly with no fool' look in his eyes. "I can stop him flying this plane." B.A. said confidently and marched up to the cockpit. Hannibal and Face just stood and waited. It wasn't long before B.A. came back.

"Man, who was that?" B.A. asked notably less confident than before and maybe even a little shaken by the man he met in the cockpit.

"I've been thinking…You know how there were holes in Murdock's files, we all saw them when we were checking his background." Hannibal mused. He used to check the files of all the men on the team. Murdock's file had been especially interesting and a bit mysterious. Hannibal and the others still didn't know much about the pilot's background to that today. "And we've all experienced holes in his…"

"Head." B.A. filled in.

"I was going to say 'memory'." Hannibal corrected. "I always suspected it had something to do with the CIA."

"What? Hannibal, no. Murdock was in the Thunderbirds before the War, we do know that. Don't you think he would have told us if he worked for the CIA." Face argued.

"No I don't think he would have told us. We know how good a pilot he is, how good a soldier, so it stands to reason that he would be just as good a CIA agent which means he wouldn't have told us." Hannibal reasoned.

"Oh man, no way that crazy fool worked for the CIA." B.A. doubted what Hannibal was saying. It just couldn't be true. The fun loving, goofy, drive him crazy Murdock he knew couldn't be a suit for the agency.

"Well it makes sense doesn't it, and maybe our Murdock the one we know and love doesn't seem like a CIA agent. But that Murdock in there he does." Hannibal was convinced and B.A. had a hard time denying the fact that the Murdock getting ready to fly the plane wasn't agent like. Face on the other hand…

"Come on Hannibal it's in his head it's not real. How many personas of Murdock's have we seen? This is just another." Face argued again he was unsure of what to make of what Hannibal was purposing.

"I don't think so Lieutenant. It fits." Hannibal smiled proud of his deduction.

"Alright, say you are right Hannibal, Murdock was in the CIA why is he acting like an agent now?" Face brought up a good point. Hannibal had to think for a moment.

"Before he thought he had to fly the chopper to pick up soldiers like he was back in the war. Now he thinks he's got to fly a plane out of Vietnam on a mission for the CIA. Well it got something to do with trauma, I'm sure of it." Hannibal thought aloud.

"Man the crazy fools got lots of trauma in his head Hannibal this could be bad." B.A. knew his friend had demons, they all did.

"You're right B.A. but I think he's relieving specific traumas like maybe times he was shot. His mind is just making connection and helping him cope with being back in the jungle." Hannibal deducted.

"That's quite a theory Colonel." Face commented a bit skeptical.

"Not a bad one if I do say so myself." Hannibal smiled slyly.

"So what do we do?" B.A. was starting to worry for his friend.

"Nothing at the moment, I think it will all work its self out if we could just get out of here." Hannibal hoped.

Agent Murdock leaned out of the cockpit. "Take your seats men. I've determined we don't have enough fuel to make it to the States but we do have enough to hop over to Australia. This will be our course of action." Face noted that Murdock had acquired a dark button down shirt. This plane did seem to have everything else, why not a spare shirt for the pilot.

Murdock disappeared back up front and Hannibal went followed him.

B.A. went and woke Tia up. "We are going?" she asked thinking she heard the plane engines come to life but she was sleepy and not quite sure what was going on.

"Yeah seems that way, sit down and buckle up, this may be a rough ride." B.A. tried to keep the fear out of his eyes. He didn't think he was very successful.

Up front Hannibal took the seat next to Murdock. "Are you the co pilot?"

"Well, I've landed a plane before." Hannibal thought back to the time when he had landed the airline jet with the help of a blinded Murdock. "So yeah I guess that makes me the co-pilot."

"Fine, strap in." Murdoch said without a spare look at the other man.

TBC…

My first A-Team fic Thank you for Reading and Reviewing


	3. Chapter 3

**Eye of the Storm** Part 3

Murdock gripped the controls with both hands and began take off procedures.

Hannibal held tight as the plane picked up speed.

Murdock gritted his teeth and pulled back on the controls forcing the plane into the sky. They climbed and climbed and Hannibal watched as the pilot worked. His expression was tense but there was no sense that he wasn't in control. Finally they leveled off in the night sky and Murdock relaxed a bit back into his seat.

"That was fun." Hannibal quipped. Agent Murdock cut his eyes in Hannibal's direction but didn't say anything. The pilot went to work checking the gages.

"Everything look alright Captain?" Hannibal asked seriously.

"Yes." Was all Murdock spared. The colonel watched his friend with concern, Murdock looked uncomfortable still he could have looked worse. Hannibal knew a lot of it was an act this tough agent was putting on. He decided he was going to see if he could get anything interesting out of the other man.

"So been on any good missions?" Hannibal's curiosity was pecked. Murdock raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Come on we're all agents here, I'm sure you've got a couple stories you could tell." Hannibal ribbed the pilot.

"I can't, they're classified." Hannibal saw a number of things pass in the thin man's expression from pride, joy, to fear, anger, and grief. Hannibal had a feeling this Murdock had been through a lot.

Hannibal decided to change the subject a bit more familiar. "So how did you become a pilot?" Hannibal had heard the story of how Murdock had flown crop dusters back in Texas. He'd heard that story as far back as when he'd first met the young pilot in 'Nam.

This Murdock seemed to get agitated by the question. "Why do you want to talk so bad?" He spat.

"Because as long as you're talking I'll get a heads up if you're going to pass out." Hannibal always had a plan. "So go on tell me a story."

"This is highly unorthodox." Murdock countered.

"I'm an unorthodox kinda guy." Hannibal countered back.

"How I became a pilot?" Murdock asked peering at Hannibal out of the corner of his eye, turning the subject over in his head wondering if he should talk about his past with a stranger. He was starting to kinda like the old man, he was different.

"I well...I never thought about it." Murdock confessed but he didn't know why. It was probably lose of blood making him loose. "My father was a pilot."

"Was he?" Hannibal couldn't remember ever hearing anything about Murdock's father; Murdock didn't really talk about his family.

"Yes, he was a pilot, though I don't know that that had much to do with me becoming one. I never really knew the man, His plane went down in Korea. I must have been about six at the time. I remember it wasn't long after my mom died." Murdock looked sad for a moment then put his agent facade back up.

"Anyway I went to live with my grandparents after that. They had a farm. There was an old crop duster that my granddad would let me sit in and pretend I was flying. I loved to sit in that plane." Hannibal listened intently to the part of the story he knew well.

"Well I was about ten...I can't figure why I'm telling you all this... when the state determined my Grandparents where too old and sick to take care of children." Murdock with just the slightest hint of emotion, the words that came out of his mouth seemed to not be his own.

"Children? You have siblings?" Hannibal was now surprised. Siblings had never been part of the old familiar story.

"Yes." Murdock confirmed but wouldn't say anymore about them which only made Hannibal more curious. The pilot continued with his story.

"We were sent to foster parents, hum, I didn't care for it. I acted out for a couple of years. Then they decided they'd had enough of me. I was sent to the St. Joseph's school for troubled and at risk boys. It was sort of like a 'Boy's Town'; you know that movie with Mickey Rooney. Well there they let me study plane maintenance and then flying. I got a job as a crop duster and then I joined the air force. That's how I became a pilot." Murdock finished his story in a very matter of fact way that was eerie and disconnected.

The Murdock Hannibal knew probably would have been a wreck after what may have been a very difficult and emotional story for him. That's probably why Hannibal had never heard the full story before, Murdock usually avoided personal and chose to distract with humorous. Hannibal suspected the detachment may have had something to do with CIA training.

"How did you go from flying crop dusters to flying for the CIA?" Hannibal dropped the agencies name to see what would happen.

"I was always the top of my class." Murdock said with the slightest hint of pride. Hannibal took the cryptic statement as confirmation that Agent Murdock was in fact working for the CIA.

Hannibal got bold again as his curiosity flared. "I know that you told me not to use your name, but I was wondering… I know you don't remember at the moment but you have to trust me we do know each other. I just was wondering is H.M. your name or just your initials."

Murdock squeezed his eyes tight for a second and Hannibal thought perhaps he'd pushed the fragile man too far. When Murdock opened his eyes again it was apparent he'd shut them because of the pain his shoulder. He answered with a trusting if thin voice. "It's my name."

"Really it doesn't stand for anything?" Hannibal had always thought H.M. must be initials for something Harold Michael or Henry Matthew but the name had never been in any of the files Hannibal had seen on Murdock.

"It's stood for a lot of things over the years..." Murdock said cryptically, Hannibal wondered if the young pilot had gotten the nick name Howling Mad yet.

The sun was starting to come up and lighten the sky. Hannibal could see ocean out ahead of them. He suddenly heard a strange gurgling noise that caused him to look around fearing the plane was having some sort of malfunction. Looking finally at the pilot Hannibal realized the noise was Murdock's stomach; though even the pilot himself didn't seem to notice it.

Hannibal realized he couldn't even remember the last time Murdock had eaten. 'Great' he thought 'we've got a wounded pilot, who's lost blood, who we stitched up so he can fly us and we're going to fall out of the sky and die because we forgot to feed him.'

Hannibal picked up the radio. "Face could you bring some rations up to the front." A minuet later Face appeared.

"Your, in flight snack Colonel" Face said sarcastically.

"It's not for me Face it's for the pilot…" Face saw that Murdock was intensely focused on flying and was starting to look pale again.

"Hum, Oh." Face realized Murdock had to be hungry, they'd all eaten before when he was still asleep. "Here take this." Face handed what he was carrying to Hannibal. "I think there's water in the back, I'll go get it." Face left and Hannibal opened the rations.

"Why don't you put it on auto pilot for a couple Agent and eat this." Hannibal suggested as he offered the beef hash ration to the pilot.

Murdock could smell the hash and he realized he was hungry. Grant it not the hungriest he'd ever been in his life, he could certainly remember a couple times where he'd been much worst. He took the co pilot's advice and put the plane on auto.

Sitting back tentatively he accepted the food and a fork. Face returned to the front with a bottle of water and some pills. He handed the bottle to agent Murdock who nodded his thanks with a mouth full of hash. Face offered his friend the pills. Murdock shook his head. "They're for the pain." Face explained.

Murdock shook his head again and swallowed.

"They shouldn't make you drowsy they aren't that strong." Face tried to reason with the pilot.

"No, no pills." Murdock refused. Hannibal had seen their Murdock refuse pills before. He thought maybe it had something to do with the pilot being paranoia or not wanting to take head shrinking meds. It made him wonder what Agent Murdock had against taking pain pills.

Face looked to Hannibal. Hannibal just shrugged.

Murdock ate quickly and guarded; much like Hannibal remembered him doing when they first met the young pilot in Nam.

"How long do you think until were there?" Face asked over the pilot's shoulder.

"We're close now." Murdock stated and a chill ran down Face's back, Murdock had used the same words just the day before but they sounded so different now.

"I'd say 15 maybe 20 minutes, you can see it there just on the horizon." Murdock pointed out.

Face squinted to try and make it out. "Alright if you say so." Face went back to his seat and Hannibal was left alone with Agent Murdock again.

"So kid have you ever been shot before?" Hannibal asked.

Murdock had taken control of the plane back and didn't look at Hannibal or outwardly react to the question. "Once before."

"Yeah and how did it compare to this time?" The sun was up now it was officially a new day.

The younger man was silent for a long minuet presumably thinking over his answer or Hannibal supposed ignoring the question all together.

A response did come though. "Did you stitch me up?"

"Yeah I did." Hannibal wondered what his confession would bring.

Murdock nodded his head. "Thank you." Hannibal read the subtext in the two words apparently the 'last time' had been much worse, Hannibal could only imagine what that meant.

Hannibal decided to shift the topic to one less personal but still relevant to his line of questioning. "So did you see the World Series?"

"Yeah Cardinals beat the Red Sox." Murdock answered and Hannibal nodded.

"Yeah it was a good series." The 1967 series to be exact Hannibal recalled, which meant he had been having a conversation with a Murdock two years younger than when Hannibal had met him. Which was both bizarre and fascinating.

Finally Australia was in sight Murdock starting scanning for a place to land the plane. They passed the beach and a small town, then woods and then Hannibal spotted a large field. "There," Hannibal pointed. "That one looks good."

Agent Murdock agreed and grabbed the radio. "We're going in for a landing, fasten your seatbelts."

The landing went smoothly and everyone including Agent Murdock breathed a sigh of relief.

"You did good." Hannibal patted Murdock on the back. The pilot didn't answer he looked utterly exhausted as he flipped switches and shut the plane down. "You can relax now Captain you've done your job."

Murdock looked up at the older man who insisted on calling him Captain. The older man looked pleased with things. Murdock nodded his head, he was ready to relax. His shoulder and his head were throbbing, and he was suddenly extremely tired.

Hannibal squeezed the younger man's shoulder in affirmation of a job well done and then left the cabin to check on the others.

Murdock relaxed back into the pilot's seat. He could hear voices behind him, the older man and the younger man with the pills talking about what to do next. The big man talking about how to hide the plane. None of it concerned Murdock though his job was done.

They were out of Vietnam.


	4. Chapter 4

**Eye of the Storm** Part 4

Murdock felt comfortable as he began to wake up. That surprised him, he wracked his brain trying to remember where he would be that he would be comfortable. The last thing he remembered was being back in Vietnam and being shot. That could only mean one thing, he was dead.

Murdock's eyes snapped open and searched his surroundings. It didn't look very much like Heaven. Where he was looked a lot like a bedroom. He tried to sit up to get a better view as he did pain in his shoulder exploded.

He clutched at the offending joint as he sat up and hissed. "Hell definitely Hell."

Looking around he saw he was in what looked like a quaint guest room decorated with shades of green. Pushing back the green blanket that covered him he saw he was in a dark blue cotton pajama pants and a clean white t shirt.

He got up from the bed. The floor was cold on his bare feet. He walked out into the hallway and heard voices. He followed the voices down the hall, turning the corner he found their source.

B.A., Face, and Hannibal sat around the table in the kitchen when Murdock appeared in the doorway. "Hey Man." B.A. greeted with a smile as he got up from his chair and offered it to the thin pilot. "You want something to eat?"

Murdock stared back blankly, slightly slack jawed as he sank into the seat B.A. had vacated.

"Well say something…how do you feel?" Face asked a little nervously wondering where Murdock thought he was this time.

"Well I'm starving…" Murdock spoke cautiously as if speaking louder would wake him from the pleasant dream he was having. "Where are we and how'd we get here? Last thing I remember I was flying a helicopter and I got shot. This isn't Heaven is it? we aren't all dead, right? Gosh, I hope we didn't crash." Murdock's mind ran through a whole list of horrible scenarios that could have happened.

"We didn't crash fool we aren't Dead." B.A. explained as he poured a glass of milk and set it in front of Murdock.

"No we're in Australia, beautiful land of Sun and Sand. Ah, the house belongs to two lovely sister's Karen and Casey they're letting us stay for a little while until I get our travel arrangements booked. They're out now shopping with Tia." Face smiled charmingly as he explained.

"Wow, but how did we get here?" Murdock was drawing a complete blank.

"You flew us here two days ago you don't remember…" Face's smile faded.

"You gave us a bit of a scare Captain." Hannibal spoke up for the first time.

"Oh." Murdock wiped the milk from his upper lip.

"Yeah first you thought it was 1969 and the War was still on. We practically had to drag you from the chopper… just like the medics at the base that time, remember." Face recalled the events that Murdock's expression revealed he didn't remember.

"Oh well hum…" Face started again. "Then you thought you were some kind of secret agent on a mission." Hannibal watched Murdock closely and saw the slight change in his demeanor, it was very slight but Murdock had tensed.

"Did I really, that's crazy." Murdock chuckled a little.

"Yeah I know I thought it was silly, probably all in your head." Face said knowingly.

"Geez yeah, you know this imagination of mine. Did I say anything really wild Face?" Murdock off handedly inquired.

"No I wouldn't say anything wild. Not that I heard." Face tried to think.

Hannibal stood up. "You were as tight lipped as the best G-man, Murdock." Hannibal smiled at the younger man as he passed by on his way out the back door. He saw Murdock relax.

"Good, really really good, that's great." Murdock rambled.

"Yeah, you better not do anymore of that crazy nonsense." B.A. thought about the CIA agent he'd met in the cockpit of the plane and set a plate of scrambled eggs in front of his friend. "Now eat, you'll feel better."

"Hey thanks B.A." Murdock picked up his fork and smiled. "So Face how are we getting back home?"

"Well take a look at these." Face produced a stack of brochures on cruises. "I think these two would work the best for us." He showed Murdock two of the brochures from the top of the stack.

"I like that one." Murdock pointed to the one on the left.

"Really?" Face questioned.

"Yeah that boat's Blue." Murdock explained.

"Man fool what's the boat being Blue got to do with anything?" B.A. argued.

"Well I like blue. It's the color of the sky." Murdock said innocently as he ate the eggs he'd been given.

"Yeah well Sky's got nothing to do with what boat we're taking home." B.A. ribbed the pilot jokingly. He knew he wasn't exactly showing it but he really was thankful Murdock flew them out of the jungle.

Hannibal sat of the railing of the porch and listened to Murdock and B.A. carrying on inside.

He thought about how only two days ago after the plane had landed, Face had been sent to get them a ride and he and B.A. had been discussing how to hide the plane when he'd realized Murdock hadn't come out of the cockpit.

They'd found him asleep in the pilot's chair, he'd slept for nearly fifty two hours. Hannibal had figured he needed the time to put his head and everything back in order.

Thinking of order and planes Hannibal went back to what he'd been doing before he'd been distracted by the guys. He was writing detailed instructions of What Karen and Casey should say when they call the US army to tell them they found the general's plane after the A Team was long gone, of course.

"Well what about a red Boat." Face's voice carried from the kitchen.

"Red?" B.A. and Murdock asked together.

Hannibal chuckled to himself, it was going to be a long boat ride. But he knew now the team would make it home.

**The End**

Thank you for reading.


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